I was thinking about purchasing true wireless earbuds and wanted to know if the WF-1000XM3 are good compared to wired alternatives. I know a lot of people will say that wireless can’t compete with wired. But wired can’t compete with the practicality of wireless.

Also, I saw that crinacle gave it a pretty good score (B) in his IEM Rank. So, I wanted to know how does it sound like compared to wired IEMs in its price range. Thanks

PS: I currently own a WH-1000XM3 and it sounds pretty good to me, maybe not for the price, but considering the ease of use I think it is worth it. I also own ATH M40x and Beyer DT770 Pro, planning on buying DT1990

sorry mate, it doesn’t stand a chance against a good, wired, even to chi-fi iems.

I have WF & WH-1000XM3, while both of them are good wireless and noise canceling ear/headphones, a good chi-fi iems like Blon Bl-03, Tin P1, or Moondrop KXXs blow the sonys in detail, clarity and driving power. A proper amped HE4XX also destroy WH-1000XM3, so back to your need, are you looking for a wireless conveniences or a quality output?

considering you are planning on buy a dt 1990 and you own a 770 do you prefer bright (treble focused) headphones? from what i understand the wf-1000xm3 are warmer. So are you looking for a similiar sound signature to replace them?

Am update here. I think I will go with the WF1000XM3 because for IEMs my main goal is portability, and the ANC will be good because I will use it on the bus.

I tested them on the store and thought they were pretty good. Better than my current IEMs (AKG IEMs that came with my Note 9) that was almost enough for on the go use for me.

In the end, for sound quality I already have my DT1990 paired with a DX3 DAC only mode, outputting to a Little Bear P7 tube amp. And for flights and travel I have the WH-1000XM3 Wich is also enough for that purpose.

I think I will be buying headphones and amps and upgrading my maid setup for a while before thinking of buying good wired IEMs. For now, I will stick with my current setup (Desk: DT1990 + Tube, Travel: WH-1000XM3, On the go: WF-1000XM3)

I’m kinda saging this thread but if you aren’t dead set on having that active noise canceling, you don’t really need it. I had active noise canceling on my headphones for like 2-3 years and haven’t missed it since I switch to better headphones. I take the train everyday and our infrastructure is terrible, and the schoolkids can get loud as well, but ANC never really made a big difference in my scenario. A lot of people who have tried the Bose and Sonys have never used closed-ear headphones to begin with, and a good portion of the noise cancelling comes from headphones that are closed-ear and provide isolation such at foam eartips on IEMs.

Just blast some beautiful rain from the myNoise.net app if you’re doing work, or play music or video. I have the V-Moda M100s which are $80 on ebay and they’re pretty solid with the latest custom pads from Amazon for $20 more (vanilla the headphones are kinda weak). If you have a way to EQ them a bit it can be helpful, but they’re pretty good on stock. I think either the mids and/or the bass is recessed, I kinda forget right now.

If you’re looking into wired with ANC, maybe the Bose QC25s since the sound quality is pretty comparable I guess. I dunno, the Sonys and Bose just don’t sound good to begin with, really. I sold my XM2s for almost $100 and bought $45 IEMs and $80 headphones (with some added mods for like $30 more) and I’m way better off overall. You could do the same if you look into Chi-fi like the KZ ZSXs or the BLON03s for IEMs, and pick some good headphones. Resell value might be kinda depressing on the Sonys but all headphones are like that, and there are market sweetspots you can take advantage of to get better headphones, like I did.

Thanks for all your recommendations, but actually I’ve settled on the WF1000XM3. I really wanted the portability, because wires on the go piss me off.

I know i could have gotten a better sounding IEM, specially for that money, but for on the go use the sonys are enough for me. They are actually pretty good.

For now I will stick with my current setup (DT1990, WH and WF 1000XM3) and I’m happy with it! I’m back to my home in Brazil, sooo… No audiophile gear available anymore. Now I’m only upgrading in at least a couple of years

I plan on maybe purchasing a BTR5 and some good IEMs in the future, but I have a lot of other cool stuff to buy before that. Haha